CO2 transport (Task 7)

Captured CO2 needs to be transported from the points of capture to the storage sites. Task 7 will provide knowledge and methods to ensure that the transport is safe and efficient. Running-ductile fractures in CO2 pipelines, ship transport, impurities and non-equilibrium flow of CO2 is being investigated.

The CCS value chain roughly consists of three phases: Capture, Transport and Storage. This Task will provide knowledge to ensure safe and efficient CO2 transport.

To continuously evaluate plans and results related to the Task, an industrial interest group has been put together, consisting of members from Aker Solutions, Gassco, Larvik Shipping, Shell, Statoil and Total. The group will remain operational throughout the lifetime of the Task, and new partners are welcome.

As both deployment cases involve transportation, this Task is relevant for both DC1 and DC2, and it is related to other tasks, in particular:

The Task will:

  • Develop improved models for the prediction and description of running-ductile fractures (RDF – link) in CO2 pipelines.
  • Perform depressurization experiments to develop and validate fast-transient flow models taking impurities and non-equilibrium flow into account. Read more about depressurization experiments on these pages: 
  • Perform experiments and modelling studies related to efficient transport of CO2 by ship.
  • Develop efficient and robust numerical methods for multiphase flow of CO2 with impurities.

Main results 2019

ECCSEL depressurization facility and improved models

The ECCSEL depressurization facility became operational in 2019. This facility is specifically instrumented to record fast changes in pressure and temperature as pressure waves propagate in a pipe. These data contribute to safe and efficient CO2 transport through validation of numerical models which enable us to better design and operate CO2-transport systems.

Gas and liquid experiments have been conducted with the rig and we obtained preliminary results with high resolution and consistency. The data will be used to validate and improve the fluid part of our coupled fluid-structure (FE-CFD) running-ductile-fracture (RDF) prediction model, as well as models for transient (time-varying) multiphase (gas-liquid and gas-liquid- solid) flow of CO2 in general. The data will be further analysed and published in 2020.

In addition, we improved our coupled FE-CFD model for predicting running-ductile fracture in CO2 pipelines by improving our material-model calibration method and by more efficient thermodynamics calculations.

The RDF model can be made available to industry. A way to do this is outlined in the document ‘Fracture-propagation-control tool for industry – proposal for a pre-project’ submitted to the Task Family. Putting the model into industrial use could lead to benefits including reduced cost and design margins and lowered project risk.

More efficient simulation of multiphase flow

Our postdoc at The University of Zurich has developed a new numerical method for compressible (‘low-Mach’) multiphase flow. This could lead to more efficient simulation tools for multiphase flow of CO2, that is, simulation tools that can handle a large range of flow situations in a robust and numerically efficient way.

Interest outside of NCCS

A work package on model-based design tools for fracture design and control was part of a bilateral Norway-China application entitled "Digital solutions for predictive maintenance and structural integrity assessment of energy pipelines – Doorstep". This shows that the work attracts interest outside NCCS.

Upper left: Calculated vs measured pressure as a function of time during depressurization of pure CO2 from 126 bar, 22 °C. Preliminary but promising results. Right: Structure (FE) simulation carried out as part of the material-model calibration study.

Results 2018

Main results

  • Commissioning of the ECCSEL depressurization facility brought much closer.
  • Further validation of SINTEF coupled FE-CFD model for fracture-propagation control, published at IPC2018.
  • Battelle two-curve tool software updated with new functionality, including GERG-2008 and EOS-CG equations of state.
Visit at ECCSEL depressurization vessel, April 2018
Depressurization tube, November 2018

Results 2017

The work focused on CO2 transport by pipelines. We established a roadmap for the development of an engineering tool for fracture propagation control in CO2-transport pipelines, which can help ensure safe and cost-efficient CO2 transport. By engineering tool, we mean a tool that can be used with relative ease and with short runtimes by an engineer using a desktop computer, as opposed to heavier finite-element (FE) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The SINTEF coupled FE-CFD code is an essential part of the development, due to the physical insights that can be gained through its use.

Several publications have hypothesized that the CO2 flow exiting the pipeline through a fracture is not in equilibrium. We made some progress in the modelling of non-equilibrium flow.

Work was also performed on the validation of our procedure for calibrating the material model in the FE-CFD code.

The NCCS industry partners, in particular Aker Solutions, Gassco, Larvik Shipping, Shell, Statoil and Total are following up and providing input to the work.

Conference Publications

2019:

  • Calibration of pipeline steel model for computational running ductile fracture assessment - Gruben G, Dumoulin S, Nordhagen H, Hammer M, Munkejord ST. 29th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference, ISOPE 2019. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  • A new experimental facility for decompression of CO2 and CO2-rich mixtures - Poster: A. Austegard, H. Deng, M. Hammer, S.W. Løvseth, S.T. Munkejord, H.G.J. Stang, TCCS-10 conference, Trondheim, Norway
  • Simulation of a full-scale fracture propagation test - Oral presentation: S. Dumoulin, G. Gruben, M. Hammer, S.T. Munkejord, TCCS-10 conference, Trondheim, Norway
  • Transient multi-phase flows at Low-Mach. A novel simulation tool for weakly compressible flows of CO2-rich mixtures - Poster: B. Re, R. Abgrall, TCCS-10 conference, Trondheim, Norway
  • A diffuse interface method for weakly compressible multiphase flows based on the Baer and Nunziato model - Oral presentation: B. Re, R. Abgrall, MULTIMAT, Trento, Italy

 

2018:

  • Validation of the FE-CFD coupled code against a full-scale burst test - G. Gruben G., S. Dumoulin, H. Nordhagen, M. Hammer, S.T. Munkejord. Int. Pipeline Conference, Calgary
  • A non-equilibrium model for weakly compressible multi-component flows - Oral presentation: B. Re, R. Abgrall, NICFD, Bochum, Germany
  • CO2 transport by pipeline - Lecture: S.T. Munkejord, IEAGHG Summer School, Trondheim, Norway

Pop Science Articles

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2018:

 

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